https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/page/86/?d=7enhttps://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/can-i-sell-you-on-jordan-montgomery-as-the-final-piece-for-the-cubs-rotation-r1409/The modern baseball analytosphere demands that we have a good damn explanation for why any player who was bad in Year X should be any good in Year X+1. We have all kinds of numbers, all kinds of angles, all kinds of ways to see and to say whether or not a player was good in a given season, and i...1409Thu, 16 Jan 2025 18:35:43 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/piecing-things-together-its-clear-the-chicago-cubs-intend-to-sign-a-top-relief-pitcher-r1407/Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy appeared on the Mully and Haugh Show on 670 The Score Wednesday morning, and when the hosts asked him about who he thought might close for the team in 2025, he laughed. "I love that we're at January 15th, and it's like, 'Who's the closer?'" Hottovy said. He...1407Thu, 16 Jan 2025 14:24:00 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-top-20-chicago-cubs-player-assets-of-2025-part-2-nos-11-15-r1399/You can get a full explanation for the parameters used to develop this list in our intro post, but the short version is this. We're answering the question: which current players in the organization are most indispensable to fulfilling the vision of building a champion? To rank Cubs players and p...1399Thu, 16 Jan 2025 12:33:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/alex-bregman-kike-hernandez-free-agent-targets/In a perfect world, the Cubs would sign Alex Bregman this month, as he accepts the reality that no long-term deal is forthcoming and becomes more open to a short-term one with player options attached. They'd create a few small problems for themselves, like giving up draft capital and internation...1405Wed, 15 Jan 2025 23:17:08 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/lets-examine-the-power-surge-kyle-tucker-enjoyed-in-2024-and-how-it-will-carry-into-2025-r1402/Kyle Tucker was a very, very good hitter even before 2024. From 2021-23, he emerged as a superstar, with a .278/.353/.517 batting line and an average of 30 home runs per season. If he had merely reproduced those numbers last year, he would still have been a perfect target for the Cubs when the A...1402Wed, 15 Jan 2025 19:34:38 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/how-seriously-will-cubs-pursue-alex-bregman%E2%80%94and-if-they-sign-him-whats-next-r1401/It is, on one level, incredibly simple. Don't overthink this. One of these potential lineups is much better than the other. Current Lineup # Lineup w/ Bregman Ian Happ 1 Ian Happ...1401Wed, 15 Jan 2025 15:05:24 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-top-20-chicago-cubs-player-assets-of-2025-part-1-nos-20-16-r1395/Over at our sister site Twins Daily, Nick Nelson did a similar write-up for the Twins (he’s been doing it every year since 2018). As our resident asset-ranking expert, I’ll allow him to explain the purpose and methodology behind this concept: Seeing as this is our first year putting toget...1395Wed, 15 Jan 2025 12:46:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/instead-of-trading-something-major-for-willi-castro-cubs-should-try-dealing-for-the-next-willi-castro-r1400/Two years ago, the Minnesota Twins caught a huge break. The then-backward Detroit Tigers non-tendered talented but frustrating utility man Willi Castro in November 2022, paving the way for Minnesota to swoop in and sign him to a minor-league deal. Castro, then 25, hit a messy .241/.284/.367 in 3...1400Tue, 14 Jan 2025 23:31:15 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/2025-cubs-breakout-brandon-birdsell/After being a fifth-round pick in 2022 out of Texas Tech, Brandon Birdsell didn't officially make his debut in the Chicago Cubs farm system until 2023. Since doing so, though, he's done nothing but affirm the team's faith in him, and as they've counseled him on some ways to rebuild and adjust hi...1398Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:52:26 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/3-podcast-episodes-to-catch-you-up-on-all-things-chicago-cubs-offseason-r1397/Firstly, late last week, three-fourths of the crew of the This is Not a Rebuild Cubs podcast convened to discuss the team's oddly eventful week, albeit at a frustratingly unclear moment in the progress of the hot stove season. It began as a rumination on the possibilities for how they can still...1397Tue, 14 Jan 2025 14:39:49 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/the-importance-of-dansby-swanson-in-2025-r1393/After signing with Chicago prior to the 2023 season, Dansby Swanson hasn't quite lived up to the $177-million contract he was given. He posted batting averages of .244 in 2023 and .242 in 2024. Swanson has also started to miss time, something he hadn't done since very early in his career. T...1393Tue, 14 Jan 2025 12:49:02 +0000https://northsidebaseball.com/news-rumors/chicago-cubs/horsefeathers-the-chicago-cubs-are-not-finalists-for-free-agent-starter-roki-sasaki-r1396/All along, we've known that it was a longshot that the Cubs would reel in Roki Sasaki. He's as hotly in demand as any free agent in baseball history, with his price artificially suppressed in a way that amplifies his value to whichever team signs him in a way disproportionate even to his immense...1396Mon, 13 Jan 2025 23:17:25 +0000